First Day
by X'andirth
Summary: A story about Remus and about his first trip to Hogwarts. Remembering the past and making new friends. Stupid summary really... The story is better! MWPP minus the W


Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is already owned by someone somewhere. aka J.K. Rowling.

Note: This is my first fanfiction I have written. I don't know how good it is or isn't.

**A Cursed Life...**

11 Year-Old Remus Lupin eyed the crowded platform nervously. Children and their parents milled about before a giant red steam engine, saying their last goodbyes and greeting their friends before the train left, taking the children to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Licking his lips, he turned to his mother, who smiled encouragingly before pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Have a good year, and don't worry about anything"

Remus knew that by anything she meant the full moons. He suppressed a shudder and tried not to think about it.

"Dumbledore's taken care of everything, understand?" even though she was trying to be cheerful about it, he could hear the slight shake in her voice as she spoke.

Remus nodded and gave a shaky smile,

"Don't worry Mum, I'll be ok" he said softly, desperately hoping he was right.

A whistle blew loudly, and those children on the platform who had not yet boarded the train moved towards it, climbing through the open doors quickly. Remus' mother squeezed him tightly before releasing him.

"Write home often, and don't get into any trouble"

Remus grinned,

"I will Mum, I love you"

"I love you too, now get moving!" With a slight push from his mother, Remus made his way over to the train, climbing aboard just as the door was shut. Another whistle blew and with a jerk, the train slowly began to move forwards. Remus waved to his mother through the door window and watched as she waved back, disappearing from Remus' line of sight as the train picked up speed.

Remus began to make his way along the train, looking for an empty compartment, quickly passing by those that were filled with older students and those already filled with other students who already seemed to have made friends with each other. Remus had moved a lot in the passed few years and had only been living on the outskirts of London for a few weeks. He hadn't met any other witches or wizards here yet, except in passing when his mother had taken him to buy his school things in Diagon Alley. Finally he found an empty compartment, he walked in, and shutting the door behind him sat down near the window. It was not long until he began thinking about how excited and yet sad he had been by the arrival of a letter, telling him he was chosen to attend Hogwarts. He remembered how it had felt, for a brief moment, to be accepted, however that feeling had quickly faded as he remembered just why he was never accepted; his lycanthropy. Remus sighed sadly, he could barely remember that night.

---

His mother had been having a get-together with several friends from work. Getting bored with it, he had wandered away from where they sat in the fading light. Down the path... around the corner of the house... to the fence...he sat down against a bare-limbed tree, watching the stars come out. It hadn't been taken long for the moon to join them, the arrival of winter causing the nights to come faster. He was so intent on the night sky that he had not noticed the fatal predator come up behind him, its yellow eyes glinting in the moonlight, its massive paws making no sound as it stalked its prey. Remus sighed, it was after that when things had become a blur of fear and pain. The werewolf had attacked him and run, leaving him in a steadily growing pool of his own blood as his mother and her friends ran to the source of the screams. He had woken up in hospital a week later. It was then he was told that though he had survived the attack, the werewolf had made Remus' fate the same as its own. It was that day that Remus began his new life. A cursed life.

---

Remus shuddered as he fought back tears, he was the reason why his mother and himself had to move so much. They kept his lycanthropy a secret, but sometimes people found out, and they were forced to leave. Werewolves were universally hated and feared by everyone. Or so Remus had thought. When he had received his letter, his mother had sent a reply, boldly saying that Remus could not safely attend school due to his lycanthropy. It was two days later that a surprise visitor had come to their house. He had introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore told his mother that as long as they took certain precautions, there was no reason why Remus should not attend school. After having a chat with Remus and his mother, Dumbledore had promised to arrange about making sure Remus could be safe at school, and to get back to them when he did. And he had, to Remus' surprise. Dumbledore had returned and told them that everything was in order and that he expected to see Remus on September the first.

Remus grinned spontaneously; he had been excited and nervous about going to Hogwarts, the school where his mother had learned everything she knew and nervous about what people would say if they found out that he was a werewolf. Dumbledore had said, and his mother agreed, that although he could attend the school, he was to tell nobody about the fact that he was a werewolf, not that Remus had planned to. No, he was safer if nobody knew.

**Or New Life...**

A bang shook Remus from his thoughts, as the compartment door exploded open. A boy with untidy black hair stood in the doorway, looking sheepish.

"Sorry about that" he mumbled, "Ummm... would mind if I..." he nodded his head towards the seat.

Remus smiled nervously, "no problem"

The other boy grinned widely, obviously relieved. "Thanks!" he bounded to the seat opposite Remus and extended his hand, "James Potter" he introduced himself,

Remus hesitated for a moment then shook the proffered hand, "Remus Lupin."

The boy called James opened his mouth to say something more, but was interrupted by the door opening again, more carefully this time and another black haired boy stood in the doorway. "Could I sit with you?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly irritated. James looked over at Remus, who shrugged, then back to the boy in the door, "Sure, go ahead."

The new boy sat down with a sigh, closing his eyes, "you'd think people would be nicer to first years, since they were all one themselves once, hey?"

James chuckled, "too right!"

The new boy continued, "The least they could do when you ask if you could share a compartment with them is to say no nicely, not shout at you and then slam the door in your face. I mean, where's the common courtesy, people? That's the problem with the world; nobody cares about anybody else but themselves! I'm Sirius Black, by the way." Remus blinked, trying to catch up with everything the boy had said, out of the corner of his eye he saw James appearing to do the same thing. The boy – Sirius – looked first at James and then at Remus, then laughed in a triumphant sort of way. "HA! Yes! Made you stop and think!" He continued to laugh to himself, while James grinned widely,

"I'm James Potter, and this is Remus..." He trailed of.

"Lupin" Remus supplied for him.

Sirius calmed himself down, "First years too?" he asked

They nodded,

"Great! And now for the ultimate first year question... What house do you think you will be in" He asked in a conspiratorial voice, switching his eyes backwards and forwards in a comical fashion between Remus and James. James laughed then answered "Both of my parents were in Gryffindor, so I'm pretty sure I will be too." Sirius scowled, "I hope that you don't get put in the house your parents were in; both of mine were Slytherins." His scowl deepened, "Bloody fascists" he muttered under his breath.

James watched Sirius closely, "well, maybe you won't be, if you don't think like one."

That seemed to brighten Sirius up, "Yeah! I think being a Gryffindor would be good! That is where I'd like to be put!" He turned to Remus, "what about you?" Remus thought about it, "well mum was in Ravenclaw, but I don't know where I want to go" A sudden thought struck Remus, What if he wasn't put in a house, what if the fact he was a werewolf prevented him from being put in a house? Before he could further that train of thought a voice spoke in his ear, startling him.

"You alright?" he turned to Sirius who was watching him uneasily, a quick glance showed him that James was doing the same. Remus forced a queasy smile, "just nervous is all."

"OK..." Sirius said, sounding unconvinced, but, Remus noted thankfully, he let it go.

"Either of you interested in Quidditch?" James suddenly asked, and in seconds he and Sirius were involved in a deep discussion of the sport. Remus to hide his nervousness that still remained, and to distract himself, listened intently.

The sky was getting dark, and threatening rain, when an older student had poked her head in the compartment and informed them that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in a matter of minutes. Remus was in a much better mood now, the discussion had gone from Quidditch, ("the best thing ever to be invented" according to James) to family, (James being an only child, Sirius not getting along with his, "hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em!") to pranks (James, with an evil look on his face, noting that if the three of them were in the same house, it was going to be an interesting year, to which Sirius had replied with an equally evil grin) and various other subjects in between. The three of them had fallen silent since the older student had left. Each of them thinking about what was to come, as they felt the train began to slow. They exchanged nervous grins as the train stopped completely and they rose to their feet, making their way into the corridor and off the train. As Remus fought of the fear of everything going wrong, he thought to himself: This is the first day of the next chapter of my life.

**Authors Note:** I am not sure if fascist is in the right context here... it just sounded right.

**Authors Note:** I didn't bring in Peter because I feel that if Peter 'hero-worshiped Black and Potter,' they must have done something to start that. Stopping Peter from being severely picked on or hexed once school had officially began, for instance.


End file.
